


Forget About Everything and Run Away

by Kebuyo



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Submarine, Eloping, Episode: s05e11 They Did What?, Fix-It of Sorts, Hotels, M/M, Might add more tags later, Season/Series 05, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-05-18 15:25:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19337290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kebuyo/pseuds/Kebuyo
Summary: AU in which Ed and Oswald actually left Gotham on the submarine in 5x11





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> Beta-ed by @horrorriz!! ♥♥♥
> 
>  
> 
> Title from Avril Lavigne's "Runaway"

Steering across the river and hiding the submarine to then organize a car and food had taken them all day. When they arrived at the motel, it was already dark and they were tired. It had been an exciting, but exhausting day. Though Ed was glad they even made it this far, after Oswald had almost ditched him on the docks in the first place.

 

_Oswald looked hesitant. “Maybe I should...” he muttered, turned around and made his way back along the pier. Ed hurried after him and blocked his way._

_“I'm sure they'll manage without you,” he said._

_“They_ never _do!” Oswald exclaimed. He did have a point, really. Gotham fared far better with than without him. Still..._

_“You know what, maybe that's the problem,” Ed said. “After all you've done for this city, again and again, they've never once paid you back. You put your heart and soul into it, give everything for it, and it beats you down. Always. Do you think Gordon will care if you stay and save Gotham with him? He'll say ʻthanksʼ and then lock you behind bars the first chance he gets.” Oswald looked shocked._

_“No, he won't, I was going to negotiate a full pardon-”_

_“Whatever deal you'll make, he won't keep it. Maybe for a couple of months, then he'll betray you and send you straight back to Arkham.”_

_Oswald opened his mouth and closed it again. Finally he said, “You think he would-”_

_“You_ know _he would. He's done it before.” Ed said while Oswald remained silent, presumably pondering on his words, so he continued: “You know I'm right, Oswald. You deserve better.” He gulped. “_ We _deserve better.” He extended his hand. After a moment, Oswald huffed out a small laugh and looked up at him, glossy eyes, but a beaming smile on his lips. He took the offered hand._

_“Let us sail!”_

 

 

“Two rooms, please.” Oswald said. Ed cast him a look. Of course, a man like the Penguin who's used to living in luxury would want space of his own. Not share a room with someone he already spent the majority of the day with, cooped up in a tiny submarine.

“Sorry, only one available room left,” the motel clerk said shrugging. Ed was going to accept, but Oswald sighed exasperatedly.

“At least tell me there's two beds,” he said.

“Oh yeah. Queen-sized,” the clerk assured. Oswald turned to face his partner in crime.

“That okay, Ed?” he asked apologetically.

“Sure,” Ed said and smiled. He turned to the clerk to add: “We'll take it”.

 

They moved their luggage along with Edward the dog to their room. Oswald went to the bathroom to change into his nightgown while Ed sat on the edge of his bed. He sighed. Gaze absentmindedly fixed on the bulldog, he started removing his necktie and suit jacket. They hadn't wanted to waste much space – and, more importantly, _weight_ – on clothes, so he'd make do with sleeping in his underwear. He wondered what Oswald would wear.

That question was answered shortly after, when a knock came from the bathroom door, quickly followed by the shorter man. How odd, Ed thought, that he would knock from the inside of the bathroom, did he think Ed would strip bare in the main room while he was gone? Even odder was his ʻnightgownʼ, wide one-piece underwear, white, with a sort of 1920s flair about them. Oswald cleared his throat, looking flustered as he hurriedly placed his neatly folded clothes onto the table and went over to his bed.

“Goodnight, Edward. And goodnight, Ed.” he said before disappearing under the covers. Ed needed a moment to process that the first part had been directed at the dog.

“Goodnight, Oswald,” he murmured toward the small spot of black hair that was still visible over the blanket.

 

 

Ed woke up panting. It was cold and he was drenched in sweat. He took a deep breath to calm himself. A soft snoring sound startled him. He looked around the dark room. The motel, right. Then the snoring must be Oswald's. There was a strange echo to it though. He spotted the Penguin's silhouette on the other bed, and there, by his feet, another, smaller one. The dog, Ed realized. Oswald and his pet were breathing in harmonious unison, both apparently still in Morpheus' arms.

Ed climbed out of bed, still a little shaky, and went into the bathroom. He looked at his disheveled, glistening appearance in the mirror. He stripped bare, splashed some water in his face and tried to wash the sweat off his body without making too much noise. He dried himself with a towel and breathed deeply. There, he felt a little better already. He couldn't remember his dreams, but that was probably for the better. His gaze fell onto his wet clothing on the floor. He hated the thought of putting them back on, but he couldn't return to his and Oswald's shared room naked, so he grabbed at least his underpants – better than nothing – switched off the light and returned to the main room.

His bed sheets were still damp and uninviting. He didn't fancy lying back down there, but standing next to the bed was rather cold, too. He looked back to the other bed where the soft snore still emerged. He took a step closer. It looked peaceful, nice and warm – much more inviting. Fatigue took over his body and without thinking much more, he slipped under the blanket and huddled against Oswald. He'd been right, it was perfectly warm and comfortable. Ed wrapped his arms around the bird and pulled him closer, sighing contently. Oswald made a grumpy sound in his sleep, but didn't wake up.

Before he knew it, Ed drifted off into sweet sleep.


	2. Day 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to @horrorriz ♥

The morning was bright and peaceful. Ed slowly opened his eyes to white bed sheets and a sunlight-filled room. Grumbling, he rolled onto his back and wiped a trail of saliva off his chin. He recognized their motel room, blurred around him. His hand searched for his glasses on the nightstand, but couldn’t find them. _This isn’t my nightstand_ , Ed realized with a look across the room _._  

As he stood up to walk over to his own bed, embarrassment about last night’s events crept over him.

With his glasses retrieved, he almost tripped over Edward the dog as he turned back to face the room. Just as he started to wonder where Oswald had gone, he noticed a couple of shopping bags on the table that hadn't previously been there. In that moment, the bathroom door opened and the Penguin stepped out in the least Penguin-like fashion he had ever seen on him – including Ed's own too big pajamas. Ed looked over Oswald’s new attire consisting of a black t-shirt with a worn-off Nirvana print and baggy jeans that looked as if they'd been run over by a truck twice. Along with that went messy emo hair and a cheerful expression.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Oswald greeted and went over to the shopping bags, his dog strolling toward him, tail wiggling along happily.

“Morning,” Ed said. “Oswald, what…?”

“You slept so long that I took the liberty to go ahead and buy us some less conspicuous clothes. Here are yours,” Oswald explained, handing him two of the bags. “It's all second hand, so it might not fit perfectly,” he added apologetically.

“How is _that_ inconspicuous?” Ed asked, motioning toward Oswald's new look.

“Well, at least it doesn't scream ʻillegal Gotham crime boss refugeeʼ, does it?”

“I suppose not,” Ed admitted and went to the bathroom to get dressed as well.

 

Ed stepped back into the main room wearing a purple sweater over a mint green t-shirt and bluejeans that covered neon green socks. He supposed Oswald had indulged him with the socks and T-shirt, with the goal for this look most definitely being ʻno green or question marks anywhere in sightʼ.

 

Oswald was currently sitting on the bed with his dog, petting and talking to him. He looked up.

“Ah, you're back. How are the new threads?”

“They'll do,” Ed said. “Where are we going?” he added when he saw Oswald had the bulldog on a leash. 

“Oh, I thought we could eat out for breakfast?” With a glance to the clock, he said, “Or, well, _brunch_.”

 

Twenty minutes later the pair of Gothamites were seated in a local diner with a hearty breakfast between them.

 

“Are you wearing your leg-brace?” Ed asked casually after a few bites.

“Hm? Oh, yes,” Oswald answered. “That’s why I chose the baggy pants in the first place.”

“Just out of curiosity, what kind of pants would you have chosen otherwise?”

“Probably ripped skinny-jeans – or well, not _ripped_ , I guess. I’m too old for that now, but something more tight fitting.” It was then that Ed noticed the black nail polish that went along with Oswald’s fingerless gloves.

“When you say you’re too old for that now, does that mean you used to wear that kind of clothing?” He inquired.

“Oh yeah, as a teenager,” Oswald said with a careless shrug. “band shirts, ripped jeans, nail polish… Much more make-up though, and hair-dye.”

“That must’ve looked rather feminine,” Ed said. “No offense,” he quickly added.

“None taken,” Oswald said nonchalantly. “Are you really surprised though? You’ve seen me do my hair and make-up – a toned-down version, at least.”

“That’s true.”

“During that time I really embraced my… being _different_.” Oswald said pensively, but Ed didn’t quite understand what he meant. “Sometimes I even wore fishnets,” he added in a cheerful tone and continued eating his pancakes. Ed stared at him dumbfoundedly and blushed a little.

“Must have looked sexy,” he blurted. Oswald choked on his coffee.

“ _Very–_ Very funny,” Oswald croaked between coughs, glancing up at Ed.

“I– I wasn’t joking, actually,” Ed said, brows slightly furrowed.

Oswald cleared his throat and, with amusement and a trace of bitterness in his tone, said, “I assure you, I have _never_ , not a day in my life, looked sexy.” With that, he averted his eyes back to his plate, a slight blush on his cheeks.

The confession left Ed speechless. He had no idea how to react to that, what to even think of it. But before he could come up with something to say, Oswald started to talk about their plans for the day.

 

Ed was leaning on the wall outside their motel of the night. It was evening and a nice cooling breeze went over the parking lot. He felt a weight on his leg and looked down to see his namesake resting its head on him. 

“You tired, buddy?” He murmured, kneeling down to gently push the dog away,  preventing him from drooling on his shoe any further. 

“How come? You spent most of the day dozing in the car…” He went on to pet his chubby neck. It was a nice, soft creature actually. Almost something you’d want to hug. 

“You missing Oswald?” 

The bulldog yawned and licked Ed’s gloved hands as a reply. 

“Me too.” 

They had split tasks today, For Ed to find a new motel, while Oswald exchanged more of the gold and bought them take-out for dinner.

 

Finally the Penguin pulled up in their new car – _rented_ , not stolen – and parked as close to the motel as possible. Ed came to help him carry the rest of their belongings and dinner to the room.

“All went according to plan, I take it?” Ed asked on their way up the stairs.

“Couldn’t be better,” his partner answered. “What did we get?”

“Last room they had, unfortunately,” he said. They reached the door in question and stepped inside.

“Only one bed this time? Well,  at least it’s big enough, I suppose,” Oswald said with only slight surprise and set their dinner down on the table.

 

It had not technically been the _last_ room available. Actually, only about half the motel had been booked out, but for now, Oswald didn’t need to know that detail. 

The idea had come rather spontaneously. Offering to take care of their sleeping arrangements for the night gave him the opportunity to make sure they'd stay in the same room – and _bed_ , perhaps. While he felt a little guilty about going behind Oswald’s back, at least it was a relatively harmless lie this time. One that would hopefully ensure him to sleep well another night, snuggled up cozily with his best friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: I'm a slow updater and also I'm working on a bunch of projects parallely, so... this might take a while. (But I'll get there eventually!)
> 
> It's probably gonna be 3-4 chapters in total.


End file.
